


A Million Dreams

by WitchyNikkie



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcoholic Tony Stark, But it's not weird, Multi, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter and the OFC get together, Precious Peter Parker, Slow Burn, Sobriety, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is a Good Dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:02:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22823002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchyNikkie/pseuds/WitchyNikkie
Summary: Tony is working on getting sober, step 8 of the 12 step program says “We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.” Tony is working on making his list when he discovers one of his ex-girlfriends is dead. Further discovers that she'd had a daughter 6 months after they'd broken up. Tony is a MIT grad, he can do the basic math to find out that he has a 23 year-old daughter who's been raised by her great aunt all of these years.This is the story of what happened the day Tony appeared on her doorstep, wanting nothing more than to be a part of her life and to make amends for the life she couldn't live because he wasn't there for her. Will she accept him as her father? And how will she feel about the two young boys he's brought under his wing.Told in a diary format, and before you ask, yes the OFC is loosely based on myself, hence the name.  This is going to be a multi-chapter maybe if multi-part fic.I'm not abandoning my other work, I just haven't felt like working on it. An update is coming soon I promise
Relationships: Harley Keener & Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Harley Keener, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker/Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

My life had been, well, average at best. I’d been on the poorer side, but even that didn’t make me super special. My mom and step-dad did their best, working hard to make sure we always had a roof over our head and food on the table. There wasn’t always a lot, but there was usually enough. Who cared if I had to move every couple of years because we couldn’t afford rent? I got a really amazing scholarship to an amazing school, that was the most remarkable thing I’ve done in life. Get my degree. Now I can’t even find work in my field, what else is new. 

So here I am, 23 years old, single, living with two roommates less than 25 minutes from where I grew up, and working a dead end telemarketer job. It’s fine, everything is fine. Average, like I said. 

So why am I writing all of this? Well, something not so average happened today. In fact it’s something that is quite beyond average and I need to let it out. My mom always wanted me to give journalling a try well here I am. Trying it digitally I suppose. I am going to change all of the names in this, so don’t even try figuring out who I am. If anyone is reading this, sorry for the grammar or crappy spelling. I didn’t major in english. Oh, I guess I should give you something to call me at least? For all purposes I’m Nikkie, and here’s what happened:

I’d just gotten home from work, my roommate Kendall and I both work at the same company. She’s a supervisor and I’m a call center agent for a gutter guard place, (ps I know, a theatre major working at a gutter company, what’s up with that?). We work the same shift so we carpool because we’re both a couple of tree huggers who want to save the planet, plus it saves us both money in the long run. Anyways, we work 9-3 and because we can’t eat if we’re clocked in neither of us eat during the day so we’re both usually starving when we get home. 

So I was scrounging up some leftover chicken that I’d made the night before when there was a knock at the door. 

Kendall walked over and peaked through the peep-hole, I heard her say under her breath, “what the hell?” 

She opened the door so I went back to heating up my chicken while she talked to whoever was at the door. “Can I help you?”  
“Ummm, this apartment 23 right?”

“Yes, can I help you?” she seemed nervous, so I was about to walk over anyway to see who it is when I hear;

“Yea I’m looking for Nikkie? Is she here?” Kendall looks at me with eyes as wide as dish saucers. I walk to the door and she steps aside. 

_Tony fucking Stark?!_ I thought. 

“I’m Nikkie,” my voice cracked _dammit._ “How can I help you Mr. Stark?’

“Right, umm well...” He looked around nervously. _Why is he nervous? Shouldn’t I be the one hella nervous right now?_ “Can I come in? I’m sorry I know you don’t know me and that you’re probably very confused right now - _ummm yea I am!_ “-and I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need to speak with you privately.” He was doing this thing with his hands, I recognized it as a stimulation method neurodivergent people often utilize to ground themselves. It was also my favorite way to stim in uncomfortable situations.

I looked back at Kendall who’d stepped into our living room. She raised an eyebrow in a silent question. I nodded to her and stepped aside to let Mr. Stark in. He walked in and looked around our tiny apartment. It was nice, and pretty manageable cost wise when all the expenses were split three ways but it was still fairly small. 

“I’ll be in my room if you need me” Kendall left the room leaving only me and Mr. Stark in the living room. 

“So....” I looked at him expectedly.

“So,” he sighed. “Does the name Carol Lea Turner mean anything to you?” 

“It doesn’t but Lea is my middle name and I know it’s a family name, and Turner is my mom’s maiden name, is she a relative of mine?”

“Yes, she was. She died when you were about 4 months old.” 

“Oh...why are you asking me about her then?” 

“Because I was trying to figure out how much you know, and how much I’m going to have to tell you. Clearly the answer is nothing and everything.” He ran his hand through his hair looking very uncomfortable. “ Carol Lea was your biological mother. Karen, the woman who raised you was her great-aunt.” 

I stared. _He’s got the wrong Nikkie, obviously. But he knows Mom’s name._

“I understand this is a lot, and trust me I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t 100% sure.”

“Why are you the one telling me this? What the hell does this have to do you? I mean, you’re IronMan.”

“Because I knew Carol Lea, I knew her well actually.” _Oh fuck is this going where I think it is?_ “And I recently decided to look her up and when I found out that she was dead and that she’d had a kid and everything and then did the math...and I think I’m your father.” 

“How certain are you?” 

“99% sure. Your mother wasn’t the type to sleep around and she and I were together for four months and if we go back 40 weeks your conception would have been smack dab in the middle of our time together in ‘96” 

I kind of just stood there. _Why wouldn’t Mom tell me I was adopted? He’s got to be wrong right?_ But even just standing there looking at him I saw similarities. Though my eyes were blue and his brown his were the same shape and we had the same nose. And I’m sure if I got to know him rather than his personal persona I know I’d probably find similar personality traits. 

“I know it’s a dumb question, but are you okay?” 

“I...think so? It’s a lot to take in but if I’m being completely honest I do believe you. But now I’ve got a follow up question.”

“Shoot.”

“Why do anything about it at all?”

“What do you mean?” He looked startled by my question.

“I mean, you’ve gone 23 years without knowing you had a kid. Why did you keep digging when you realized Carol Lea had died? And why when you found out she’d had me did you come here? You didn’t have to? I never would’ve known you were my father. You could’ve gone about your life without me. So why?”

“Because no matter how full my life may seem, I never had kids to my knowledge. And I know it’s too late to be your father, and I honestly don’t know how to be one. My father was absent in all the ways that were important and I never thought that’d be me. But it was, because I had no idea you even existed and now that I do I’d like to at least be a part of your life. If you’d allow me to be.”

“And if I’m being honest, I have a selfish reason to be here.” He looked at me for a moment, considering his next words carefully. “The reason I looked up your mother was to make amends. I’m working on my sobriety and well, she came up on my list of people that I’d hurt due to my alcohol abuse. And by extension I’ve hurt you.” 

I considered everything he had to say carefully. I know I have a tendency to make rash choices with my words. 

“I think... I'd like to get to know you. If that’s something you truly want. As for the amends, you don’t need to do that, you didn’t hurt me directly nor intentionally. I know what it’s like to feel bad for the ripple effect of your actions, I don’t want you to feel that because of me.” I smiled at him shyly. 

He smiled back at me, and in that moment, I swear the whole room got a little brighter. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is honestly mostly a filler chapter. Just to get our main character from Georgia to New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For @Loki_tony_peter for waiting so long. I know it’s not a lot but I hope it was worth waiting for.

I wasn’t sure how to handle what came next. Tony had to leave shortly thereafter, he had a meeting for the Avengers in the morning and while he’d wished he could stay...I understood. Before he left he handed me that giant envelope. Inside was a ton of paperwork, which entitled me to 1/4 of the shares of Stark Industries as well as a “fairly sizable” trust fund. Tony said it was something I should have had all along so I deserved it. I didn’t know what to do with that, but decided fighting with him about that would probably be more frustrating than necessary. 

I wasn’t sure what he considered a “fairly sizable” trust fund. I figured it’d be a couple of thousand dollars. Maybe a couple hundred of thousand.  _ Maybe _ . But instead I opened to find I was now a multi-billionaire. 

Kendall came out of her room, having heard everything. Tiny apartment remember? Mouth agape and eyes wide. “So what are you going to do now?” 

“What do you mean?”

“With the money, I mean you’re what a billionaire now?”

I glared at her and then at the offending envelope.  _ What the fuck am I going to do. _

“Well first things first,” I sighed. “My mother and I need to have a  _ chat _ and it is not going to go well.”

“Yea good luck with that.” Kendall looked at me with an appropriate amount of nervousness. 

“And not a word of this to anyone, not to Bethany, not to Kenny and especially not to Kait, are we clear? I need time to process this....and to decide what the fuck I’m doing I guess.”

She nodded, clearly seeing the amount of crazy in my eyes. 

**********************

After saying fuck it and paying off my student loans, quitting my job and buying a much more realiable car I decided I wouldn’t touch it again except for basic life expenses. I didn’t need to do anything flashy or crazy. None of my friends knew except for my roommates and they were both sworn to secrecy. As far as anyone knew I’d inherited the money from a relative of mine I didn’t really know, which was mostly true. I decided I wanted to keep it a secret, at least for awhile. 

But in a month I have a decision to make. 

Tony asked me to come live with him in New York. He talked it over with his therapist and his fellow Avengers who lived with him in the tower and they all agreed/thought it was a good idea. I’ll admit the idea sounded...attractive. It would mean leaving the place I’ve lived most of my life. But at the same time  _ it would mean leaving the place I’ve lived most of my life.  _ The 8 months in North Carolina when I lived there were...amazing. 

Plus I’d kind of lost my shit on my mom when we’d talked. We were barely on talking terms right now. It’d be nice to put a little bit of space between me and her so that we could get better.  _ Distance makes the heart go fonder and all that bullshit _ . 

On the other hand Tony and I had been getting along great. We texted daily, video called at least every other day and sometimes if it was a bad day twice in one day. 

**********************

“So what are you going to do?” Kendall asked. I’d been in my room on the phone with Tony. Our lease was up in 8 days. We’d all decided to go our own ways shortly after Tony had come into my life. But now I had to decide. Go to New York or find a place here until I figure out what comes next for me. 

“Honestly I’m gonna go. I need space from my Mom to figure out how I feel about the lies and deception over the years. Plus I never have to work another day in my life if I don’t want to. I need to make decisions about what I want to do on the day to day. And I do know for sure, Winder is not the place to do it.”

“Valid” She responded, “Just don’t forget about us when you’re rich and famous and have people doing all of your laundry okay?”

I smiled, “I know you’re not a hugger but, fuck it” and I reached for her and wrapped my arms around her tiny frame. “I’m gonna miss you brat.”

**********************

Just like that, a week l had packed up my things. Anything I felt like was unnecessary for right now got put into a storage locker. The rest loaded onto a moving truck that would be in New York in 3 days. So with my suitcase in one hand and my little black cat in the other I set out on my next greatest adventure. Who knows what it’ll hold. I just hope I can do it justice. 


End file.
